Take Flight
by JAM244
Summary: Weeks prior to Delsin Rowe discovering he is a conduit, Sarah Keyes finds herself the sole interest of Brooke Augustine and the D.U.P.
1. Chapter 1

The first fire took an abandoned elementary school in the downtown core. The second, a small mom and pop shop by the hospital, the third and fourth devoured family homes and the fifth destroyed a run down mall and claimed four innocent lives. The worst of them, though, was the last.

Summer was over and the dry heat was replaced with a bitter cold wind and sheets of rain. The fire started late in the morning, at a popular gas station and convenience store and took with it a dozen homes. It started small and spread from one corner of the store to the other in minutes.

Sarah had been running late that day and stopped at the gas station to fill her car when the fire started. She had barely enough time to register the sudden screams and distinct smell of smoke before an ear splitting bang sent her flying back through the air.

The fire had managed to jump from the building to the gas pumps and in a single fell swoop sent the whole lot ablaze. The fire roared like some kind of untamed beast and black smoke billowed down the streets.

A small crowd had formed on the opposite side of the street, where witnesses watched Sarah's body get thrown back twenty feet and land in a pile on the grass, her head smacking onto the pavement on the way. The next several minutes seemed to pass in a blur as the crowd cinched together and staunched the blood coming from Sarah's scalp.

Then she breathed, gasped and took in a lungful of cold air and Sarah opened her eyes to a blurry sky and stranger's faces. Another loud bang rent the air and people screamed as the last gas tank went up in a pillar of smoke. Armored trucks barreled down the street and soldiers filed out, their backs stamped _D.U.P._ The crowd around Sarah dispersed as a dozen soldiers marched down the street and started to lock down the block.

Sarah sat up and blinked away the fog in her eyes to the smoke of the fire across the street. There, not even five feet from the blaze, was a boy, a kid. He couldn't have been older than twelve, with mousy hair and pale eyes. His arms, they were – they were on fire.

Hands, gloved and rough, grabbed at Sarah's arms and pulled her away from the fire, but not before Sarah caught sight of concrete peaks crawling up the boy's legs and him screaming and writhing about. A flurry of movement momentarily shielded Sarah from the horror before her and when the boy slid back into her view, there stood a five foot high pillar of jagged grey concrete. The flames that had burned into the sky were reduced down to smoldering embers and the rock pillar was dragged away to a nearby truck.

Sarah got to her feet and as she shook dirt and ash from her hair, a woman approached her. She looked to be in her 40s, her face aged from years of trauma and she held herself in a manner of power. Sarah knew immediately that she was dealing with the person in charge of the D.U.P.

"Hello."

The woman wore a warm smile and Sarah managed a weak greeting back. There was something about the woman that made Sarah uncomfortable.

"I trust you have some questions, about what you have seen?" The woman asked, gently leading Sarah away from the ruined gas station.

Sarah's discomfort rose as the woman's hand tightening on her elbow. She was leading her toward another of the armored trucks. The woman looked expectantly at Sarah, waiting for an answer. Acting on instinct, Sarah wrinkled her brow into what she hoped to be an expression of concern and played stupid.

"The fire?" Sarah asked quietly, "I've never seen a fire up close like that before."

The corner of the older woman's mouth twitched, "yes, it can be quite frightening," she stopped in front of the truck and put her hands on Sarah's shoulders. "Now, tell me, what else did you see?"

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked slowly, "The gas station blew up. That's all I saw."

"Come now, let's be honest with each other," the woman said, "I know what you saw and you know what you saw. Tell me what it was."

"Uh…uhm," Sarah felt her throat start to close up. She didn't react well to pressure and it felt like a vice was squeezing her chest. The woman towered over her, waiting for an answer, for something, but all Sarah could do was stand there and fumble with her words.

"Let me help you," the woman said, "what you witnessed was an act of bioterrorism, you're familiar with the bioterrorist threat, I presume? Miss. Keyes?"

"I –" Sarah frowned at the woman, "how do you know my name?"

The woman smiled widely, "I know a lot about you, Sarah," the woman replied.

"Who are you?" Sarah asked, panic ringing in her ears.

"Brooke Augustine, founder of the Department of Unified Protection."

Augustine smiled and a strange sensation started crawling up Sarah's legs, from her ankles to her knees. She looked down and horror clung to her chest as chunks of concrete built up around her body, encasing her. Sarah looked up into the older woman's face and she felt her skin begin to prickle and crawl.

"I think you have something to tell me," Augestine said, her gaze never leaving Sarah's. "I think you've been hiding for a long time now, Sarah, but no normal person would still be standing after that tumble you took. Let me help you."

The concrete was crawling up past Sarah's knees and inching around her waist. _No, no, no, no,_ Sarah thought and a cold sweat broke out over her brow as the tingling grew into a steady burn. It crawled down her arms, across her neck and scalp and into her fingers. She felt the ink in her skin shift and knew she couldn't control it for much longer.

Sarah screamed as the burning grew unbearable and the concrete that gripped her body cracked and broke apart in a blast that tossed the older woman aside like a rag doll. The ground around Sarah had buckled and she stood in a cloud of dust, her skin rippling as a green scaled reptile pulled itself from her back. The ink of Sarah's tattoos leeched out from her skin and a dragon, twenty feet tall, opened its jaw and let out an ear splitting roar as the tip of its horned tail fell away from Sarah's now ink-free body. She could feel the heat of the beast that surrounded her, the familiarity of it and before she knew what she was doing, before the D.U.P could react, Sarah hoisted herself up onto the dragon's back.

"Go, go, go!" Sarah screamed and in a streak of dust and green scales, Sarah was amongst the clouds.

Brooke Augestine wiped dust from her jacket and watched as the ribbon of green dispersed into the horizon, a small smile on her face.


	2. Chapter 2

Sarah had thought she was over it. She was so sure she was done with her past; he was dead and she alive, she had nothing to fear of him. Yet, that fear was there, a dark thing lurking in every cell of Sarah's body. She hid in her closet for two days, never eating, rarely sleeping and only leave to run to the bathroom and back.

She cried for the first twelve hours, until it felt that she had no tears left, and spent the rest of the time in terrified silence. All she could see was his face, when she closed her eyes, when she opened them and stared at the crack of light that touched her bare toes. Even when the sun went down and the room was pitch black, Sarah still saw him, her eyes wide in the darkness.

It wasn't until the evening when Charlotte showed up, first banging on the front door, and then barging her way into Sarah's apartment. Sarah listened to her girlfriend's screaming, stiff in the corner of the closet and waited to be found. It didn't take Charlotte long before she flung the closet door open and stood in the frame, staring down at Sarah.

"What the hell," she said through gritted teeth, "are you doing?"

"Charlotte, listen," Sarah said, running her fingers through her unwashed hair. "Something … something happened."

Charlotte crossed her arms over chest, her head cocked slightly, and waited. Sarah knew the looked instantly; she only had a few seconds to convince her to listen.

"I was at that explosion that's been all over the news," Sarah said through her hands, "I – I did— this woman was there and she attacked me and I panicked."

"What's this all about?" Charlotte asked loudly, the disbelief heavy in her voice.

"She saw me, Charlotte," Sarah said desperately, "she saw what I can do."

Charlotte stood silent for a moment, before seating herself down beside Sarah. She took Sarah's hand and held it tight.

"I'm scared," Sarah said, "I feel like … it feels like he's back or something."

"Sarah," Charlotte sighed, "he's dead. You watched him die. _I_ watched him die. "

"I know, I know. I know he's not back. But, that fear, like I'm suffocating, it won't go away. Every time I think about that woman and the kid I feel like I can't breathe. I can _feel_ him, Christ I can fucking smell him. He's dead, but I think a little part of him is still with me … God, does that even make any sense?"

"Okay, you need to slow down and tell me what happened," Charlotte said, "but let's get out of the closet."

"Charlotte, I've been out of the closet for years," Sarah said.

Charlotte laughed and pulled Sarah to her feet and guided her into the kitchen. An hour later and several drinks in, Sarah finished explaining everything that had happened two days before and they now sat in silence as each contemplated what to do next.

"You could leave," Charlotte suggested as she refilled her wine glass.

"Nah," Sarah said, "Augustine will be waiting for me to do that. Besides, the D.U.P have the city locked tight. I wouldn't even make it to the checkpoint before getting caught."

Sarah's anxiety had finally settled and she felt clearer headed than she had in a while, despite the purr of the wine in the back of her head. She drained her glass in a large gulp and sat back in her chair. The sun had already set and Sarah stared at her own reflection in the window.

She was an average looking twenty something, neither beautiful nor ugly. Her dark hair hung down to her elbows in dirty strands and framed pallid skin and bright hazel eyes. Charlotte was something of the opposite. Astoundingly beautiful, she had strawberry blonde hair that she kept in short curls and a face that seemed to glow. A dusting of freckles across her nose brought out the gold hues of her brown eyes. Sarah often wondered what it was about herself that attracted Charlotte.

"What about work?" Charlotte asked, opening another bottle of wine and emptying almost half its contents into Sarah's glass.

"I have sick days," Sarah said. "I called in yesterday, said I had some kind of super flu."

"Sarah," Charlotte said softly, "I think it's time we reconsider moving in together."

It wasn't that Sarah didn't love Charlotte, or that she couldn't stand being around her, but the idea of living with her put Sarah's stomach in turmoil. Even the thought of living with her parents again made Sarah shiver. She couldn't trust herself to not lose control in one of her night terrors and unleash some monster by accident. And if she did that while someone else was in the same room, she didn't know what would happen. She had no control in her sleep, no way to stop the monsters from destroying any living thing in its path.

It had, after all, happened before.

"No." Sarah said sharply. "No, and you know why, Charlotte. I am not going to have your death on my consciousness too."

"Eric deserved to die," Charlotte retorted and it was like her words sucked all the air out of the kitchen.

Sarah hadn't heard his name in months, hadn't even spoken it herself and hearing it again felt like a blow to the stomach. She felt the smallest of prickles ripple down her back. Sarah held her breath for several seconds and snapped the rubber band around her wrist, the band that she never took off, the only thing that seemed to ground her when she felt reality starting to slip away.

Charlotte placed her hands over Sarah's, stopping the constant _snap, snap, snap_ of the band. Her fingers traced over the red welt left behind on Sarah's skin.

"You can't do this on your own," Charlotte said, "let me help you."

Sarah sighed, "fine. Just until all this blows over."

Charlotte smiled widely, pulled Sarah to her feet and dragged her into the bathroom. She turned on the shower and started pulling Sarah's clothes off.

"In," she said, "you stink."

* * *

" _Hello, my baby."_

 _His voice was low and husky, a voice that was hard to forget, even in passing. It was the first thing Sarah had noticed about him and it was now what tortured her. He would talk to her in the dark, first at the doorway. He would keep the room pitch dark and move slowly, talking, and Sarah could only guess where he was in proximity to her bound body._

 _Often times he would stop talking when he got close and Sarah could feel him there, feet from her, before he was on top of her body, his knees tight against her hips to keep her from thrashing._

" _You're more beautiful than the day I met you," he purred, his lips close to Sarah's ear, his stubble rubbing against her cheek. "God, I'll always remember that day, won't you?"_

 _Sarah stared past him, at the water stained ceiling and slow spinning fan. She would always remember it, remember when the well dressed man with a handsome face stood in her line at the grocery store and flattered her as she rang through his groceries. She would always remember the way his hungry eyes tore over her body and the way he smiled and licked his lips before leaving._

 _She would always remember the day that her life changed forever._


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't his good looks or manners that caught Sarah's attention, nor was it the special attention he paid her every time he came in; it was his voice. It was a deep, almost husky kind of voice, the kind you'd want to talk you to sleep at night and assure you that everything was going to be all right. Except that, it wasn't going to be all right and it wasn't a voice of comfort or love. It was the voice of a homicidal maniac that whose owner had set his eyes on the wrong woman.

Sarah never had feelings for him, not the kind that she had for Charlotte, but there was something there. Perhaps it was a deep longing that pulled her to him, or the aura of protection that he projected, whatever it was, he had Sarah wrapped around his finger after only ten minutes of knowing her. She agreed to meet him for coffee several weeks after their first encounter and it was the beginning of the end of Sarah's life as she knew it.

When he took her, Sarah never thought she would be sitting in her apartment again, fourteen months later, alive and as well one could hope to be. But she wasn't safe. Even though he was dead, she wasn't safe and there was nothing she could do about it.

Sarah stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. She hadn't left the house in almost a week and only showered when Charlotte forced her to. Charlotte had moved in the morning after their talk and Sarah could smell the faint hint of dinner from downstairs. Curry, again.

Not that Sarah minded, really. If Charlotte didn't cook, Sarah probably wouldn't be bothered to eat anything more complicated than peanut butter and crackers.

He always forced Sarah to cook. He would stand behind her as she fried onions in a skillet or scrambled eggs for breakfast, his breath hot on the back of her neck. He would slink his fingers through her hair, brush his fingers across the skin of her neck and whisper to her how much he need her, how much he loved her.

"Just a little longer, baby," he would whisper, as the smells of sizzling food filled the small kitchen. "I can feel the tension, right there," he'd place his hands between Sarah legs, halfway between her knee and crotch. He did it every night, as though convinced it turned Sarah on.

A sweat broke out over Sarah's brow and she shook the thought from her head. It was bad enough being on the D.U.P's radar, let alone a series of self-torturing thoughts that was sure to force Sarah to make a stupid decision. The last thing she needed was to do something careless and get caught. The idea of being under Augustine's watch made Sarah shake.

"Hey! What are you doing up there?" Charlotte's gentle voice rang up the stairwell, a comforting sound that brought Sarah back into reality. "You okay?"

"Yeah!" Sarah called back, finally finding her voice. "Yeah, sorry, I'll be down in a minute."

Sarah splashed cold water on her cheeks and took her shirt off. She took a moment to look at herself again in the mirror. Hints of green ink peeked out over the tops of her shoulders and over her collarbone. Sarah remembered every detail of the tattoo, from the colours of the dragon's scales to the strangely alive sparkle in its eye. On the inside of her forearm, just below the elbow, was a grenade, the kind you'd imagine soldiers in the army would use and on the other a small decorative knife. Sarah had them tattooed six months after she escaped and it took her months to be able to pull the grenade from her skin without the spring tripping and the thing disintegrating back into its dormant form. Butterflies, a dozen of them, passed over both Sarah's wrists and she often would use them as a source of comfort. When she felt her anxiety start to take control, Sarah would pull them out and watch them fly about her head until the panic attack subsided.

Sarah ran her fingers over the ink that had settled so willingly into her skin and felt the buzzing beneath her touch, as the tattoos breathed and existed within her, waiting to be pulled out again.

"Are you going to go outside today?"

Charlotte stared intently at Sarah over her cereal bowl. Another two days had passed and Sarah still refused to leave the house. There had been no mentions of the D.U.P or Augustine for almost a week, no knock on her door, no phone calls or e-mails, nothing to suggest that Sarah was still being hunted. If anything, it looked as though the D.U.P were lessening their grip on the small city.

Indeed, yesterday an announcement had been made on the local news channels that the Malahat highway was expected to open to normal operations again in the next few days and several ferries were being allowed to run to the mainland and back. There was a small glimmer of hope in Sarah at the announcement. Perhaps Augustine had bigger fish to fry, bigger problems to take care of instead of some traumatized woman in a small town.

Yet, Sarah still feared leaving the confinement of her home. Her work had called and informed her that if she didn't come in she would either be placed on a temporary leave of absence or fired, depending on what the head honchos decided. But Sarah didn't care, she didn't care about her job, she didn't care about the petty problems of everyday life. All she cared about was keeping quiet.

But she knew, even though she tried so hard to deny it, that she would eventually have to leave her home and be exposed to the world beyond. She knew it was time to face her fears, whether she wanted to or not. Charlotte wasn't going to take no for an answer.

It was bright outside, and borderline balmy. The coast weather was, at times, unforgivable and would rain for days on end. But today it was clear out and the sky above was a deep blue with only a few wisps of white cloud. A light breeze picked at Sarah's hair and played with it about her face.

Charlotte had decided on taking Sarah downtown, first to the waterfront, then to lunch and a walk around the small streets to visit the shops there, which were as unique as the streets they sat on.

The waterfront was quiet and Sarah lavished the salty air on her cheeks and breathed it in. As nervous as she was, it felt good to be outside again and feel the power of Mother Nature. Sarah smiled.

"Aha!" Charlotte yelled out, seeing Sarah's expression. "A real, genuine smile!"

Sarah laughed, "I smile all the time!"

"For my sake," Charlotte said, taking Sarah's hand in hers. "I know this is hard and I'm so proud of you for coming out with me."

Sarah smiled and as she leaned in to give Charlotte a kiss, a sudden movement to her left caught her attention. Charlotte's lips met hers but Sarah wasn't paying any attention. Her mind was elsewhere, ripped from the moment by letters D.U.P in her peripherals. Sarah pulled away from Charlotte, her heart in her throat.

"What's wrong?"

Sarah wrinkled her brow as she looked around the park. There were families at the playground and crowds of people going across the walkways, in and out of restaurants and shops and sitting on benches but no soldiers. There were no men in black armor storming across the lawns or a formidable woman smiling as she encased Sarah in concrete, but still she felt the prickle of panic run up her neck …

"Sarah!"


	4. Chapter 4

"Charlotte," Sarah whispered, "Charlotte, you need to go."

Sarah took Charlotte's hands and pulled her to her feet. There was no point in being stealthy, no point in pretending that she hadn't seen them and they her. The soldiers were pouring in from the pier to the west of the park and the boat docks to the east, effectively blocking off two of the three paths to safety.

"Charlotte, Charlotte, go!" Sarah said, pushing at Charlotte, trying to force her to leave.

"No!" Charlotte pushed back and swatted Sarah's hand away. "They're going to kill you!"

"No, they're not," Sarah said and the prickling burn that had started in her spine roared up her back as she let it take her, let it control a part of her that she tried to control in her every waking moment.

It was a flurry of movement that followed.

Sarah pushed Charlotte away as her skin burned and the dragon moved its head across her belly. Soldiers formed a ring and cut off all escape routes and Augustine walked out from the center of them. But Sarah hadn't noticed, the scorching pain had forced her to close her eyes as it burned into her pupils. The dragon was ripping at her skin, tearing at her belly to get out and as Sarah finally let it Charlotte screamed.

Sarah opened her eyes and through a haze of green watched as Charlotte was dragged away from her. The dragon dug its claws into Sarah's flesh and pulled itself from her, dragging its scaled body out till ten foot wings unfurled and it bared its teeth at the soldiers surrounding them. As its horned tail fell from Sarah's back and left six-inch gouges in the grass, the pain dissipated, leaving in its wake a sense of calm.

"Its very impressive," Augustine called out, "very impressive."

The dragon wrapped its body around Sarah, a shield of bone, muscle and scales, an impenetrable wall. It dipped its knee down, to help Sarah on, but instead she rested a hand on its back, felt the heat of its body against her fingers and she shook her head. She wasn't going to run, she wasn't going to be a coward and leave Charlotte with those people. She would die before allowing anything to happen to her.

The dragon snapped its jaw and let out a deep, rumbling snarl, a warning and Augustine smiled. The soldiers behind her broke rank and made a path for … for what?

They were men, but the only thing to be seen of them, to identify them by, was their eyes. The rest of their bodies were encased in thick armor, painted grey and yellow with D.U.P stamped in black across their chests. And surrounding them, moving as though in orbit, were massive rocks. Each almost the size of a human head, the rocks circled the men in continuous movements, followed them as they walked into the clearing and there was no fear in the men, no signs of trepidation at the sight of a massive dragon standing before them.

"But let's not cause any more of a scene," Augustine said, "I can help you, Sarah. I can help you have control. I can help you let go of Eric and show you your real potential."

The dragon let out a shattering screech at the mention of Eric and Sarah's ears were burning with rage. She wanted to hurt the woman. She wanted to make her feel the pain she felt when Eric had her. She wanted the woman to _suffer_.

The dragon opened its jaws and its chest burned as flame gathered in the back of its throat. Sarah covered her head as the dragon moved its massive body in front of her and let out a shoot of emerald flames. The fire hit the armored soldiers and ricocheted into a pillar that reached up to the sky. The fire had hit a wall of stones, a group of large rocks that withstood the blast. Behind those rocks, the soldiers opened fire and bullets collided into the dragon's scaled belly.

Unprepared, Sarah felt the bullets rip through the giant lizards abdomen and she cried out as jets of steam billowed out from the bullet holes. The dragon roared and let out another jet of flame. It was deflected and another hail of bullets found their mark. One slipped through the beast's wing and dug itself into Sarah's shoulder. She bellowed in pain and her dragon fell to its knees.

"Stop fighting Sarah," Augustine yelled, as the spray of bullets died away, "I don't want to hurt you."

But Sarah was hurt; severe pain radiated from the bullet wound and she was starting to see spots. She dug at the hole in her shoulder, desperate to get the bullet out, when her dragon gave in to defeat and began to dissipate. Dimly, Sarah felt the ink begin to seep back into her skin and soon there was no evidence of the dragon left, save for several small clouds of green smoke that lingered in the air.

Sarah fell into the grass, the bullet held firmly in her hand and soldiers surrounded her body. Augustine knelt down beside her. Cool fingers found the pulse in Sarah's wrist and when she looked up into the older woman's eyes, horror took away Sarah's last bit of strength.

* * *

She fell into unconscious staring into eyes filled with desire and hunger, a hunger that Sarah had seen in only one other person in her life.

He smiled when she talked about her family, about her job and school and her ambitions. He asked questions when she paused and laughed when she made a joke, but every emotion, every shimmer of life save that of hunger never reached his eyes. And Sarah was too enamored to notice, too confused and caught in her own mind to see the way he truly looked at her.

Had she seen it, had she just _looked_ at him she would have seen it instantly. But instead, she allowed herself a moment of vulnerability and Eric took it.

"There's something weird about him," Charlotte said over a mug of tea, eyeing Sarah carefully.

"No, there isn't," Sarah retorted, feeling an itch of irritation start in her jaw.

"I just don't understand why you keep seeing him, do you like him?"

"Charlotte," Sarah said carefully, "for the thousandth time, it's not like that."

"You don't see the way he looks at you, Sarah, like you're a piece of meat. He waits for you to get to work, Christ he waits for you after work! He makes up countless excuses to see you and you give in to them every. Single. Time."

Charlotte crossed her arms over her chest and a lingering silence feel between her and Sarah. The arguments were always the same, Charlotte demanding that Sarah stop seeing Eric and Sarah agreeing, only to meet with him again a week later.

"You're fucking pathetic," Sarah snarled, "you're jealous of my friendship with him and I'm sick of it. Stop making me feel so goddamn guilty because you can't get over the fact that I have more than you in my life."

Three days later, Sarah found herself at work late. It had been a particularly difficult day and her argument with Charlotte still lingered heavily in her mind. As Sarah closed up and headed for her car, a sudden prickle of caution forced the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. She had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach as a hand closed tight over her mouth.

Sarah was pulled back and as she kicked her legs out a prick of pain found her shoulder. She bit her attackers palm and, with a grunt, Sarah was released. She fell to the cold concrete as her vision started to blur at the corners and her bones felt as though they were made of concrete. She opened her mouth to scream, to call for help, but the only sound that came out was a small whimper, a pathetic noise that barely stood above a whisper.

Hands pulled at her shoulders and rolled her onto her back. She stared up blearily at a nearby streetlamp and the clouded sky beyond. Then his face swam into view. As he tucked his hands beneath her body and pulled her against him, he looked down at her and Sarah saw the hunger and feverish desire.

The last thing Sarah remembered, before whatever he had given her put her out, was the last thing Charlotte had said to her and what she had said back. Sarah closed her eyes to the look of pain on her girlfriends face and the realization that she may never see her again.


End file.
